Weatherman Doug Brown passes away at age 79

We have sad news here to bring you from the Eyewitness News family. This morning, we lost a long-time co-worker and a very dear friend who many of you watched for decades, too -- weatherman Doug Brown. Doug passed away of an apparent heart attack at the age of 79.

The person you see in public is sometimes not the person you know off the job. That was not the case with Doug Brown. He would tell you he once considered going into the ministry. Broadcasting had other plans for him, but on the air and off he had a heart for people and that's why the world is better for having had him in it.

Weather was Doug Brown's second nature and he was able to enjoy forecasting it for 50 years, well more than half his life.

His career in broadcasting you could say began in the military, when he was part of Armed Forces Radio. When he returned home to Texas, he started at a TV station in Weslaco and he made a deal with his parents.

"They were going to save up and get a TV set," Doug said in an interview from 2008. "Then, of all things, I was sent away and they couldn't see me all the way down in south Texas."

He moved from the valley and eventually to Houston and Eyewitness News This Morning. Doug spent 32 years at Channel 13. Anchor Tom Koch counted Doug as a co-worker and a friend.

"Doug could cry in the morning or bring a tear to his eye at someone else's pain in a story, a family that had been hurt or someone in distress," Tom recalled. "That was Doug Brown, just a sentimental guy."

Doug had a great sense of humor, even when it came to exercising. He made a contribution to the Great Houston Diet special a few years ago.

Weather may have been Doug Brown's second nature, but his genuinely kind nature and constant smile was his first. Doug never seemed to have a bad day. Another good friend was Ed Brandon.

"If Doug could have bottled his attitude, he could get rich," Ed said. "He always had a smile on his face, a good frame of mind and never had a negative thing to say about anybody."

In 2008 and at age 75, Doug retired from Channel 13. His time was spent with his wife and family, and a lot of it on the golf course. He passed away Wednesday night from a heart attack, his wife near his side.

If a life can be judged by what it contributed to others, through a smile or encouraging word, Doug Brown's was exceeding rich and he is already missed.

"That's what you're going to take with you when you leave," Ed Brandon said. "And Doug is at the top of the list of making my career and everyone he worked with a pleasant one too."

Doug leaves behind his wife Susan, his two sons, three grandchildren and many, many friends.